976-BABE
by Everbanks
Summary: "Pretty Woman" Hayffie AU Multichapter. Set in 1990's Hollywood. Roberts meets Trinkets, you know the drill. Rated M for future chapters. Reviews are SO appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The incessant beeps of her alarm clock were probably stored in the depths of her mind by that point. At 7pm it shrilled, the signal of the night just beginning. October frost clung to the apartment windows, it crunched as Effie lifted it open slightly in an attempt to try and clear the smoke tainted stagnant air that had been caused by her roommate. She stretched up onto her tiptoes, looking through the murky pane to see what type of night it would be, who she would have to be to survive it. It looked like a pretty quiet night which meant business was bad and she would most probably have to spend it sipping on the nearest guy's drink to keep warm, forever remembering to check if he was drinking from it too.

The usual thoughts were coming to mind, the one's Katniss told her would keep her safe in the streets. Stepping down from the window, Effie made her way to her dresser, once again trying to picture her preparations being as if she were a lady of the manor getting ready for the ball – not that she'd really have any idea what that was like other than her re-imaginations Hollywood's wealthiest and what they would do. She sighed as she stared at her reflection; the battered true version of her was only ever seen in the early evening, and only briefly so then. The blue of her eyes seemed black in the lamp light, the purple of her cut lip throbbed ever so slightly, her hair clinging to the sweat of her skin. Effie was a wreck of course, but it was the same face she had been seeing for the last year, her only attempt to fix if not at least change the fact would be the brunette bob wig she had purchased the day before. The shell of it was waiting on the counter until after she had finished plastering all of her makeup meticulously onto her face. Next was the mascara. Her eyes used to well up every time she lengthened her lashes, not out of pain or discomfort, but due to the sheer fact that doing so meant she had to stare and study herself carefully – forcing her every time to realize what she was doing. Of course after a few months of the routine, not to mention the amount of times that Kat chided her every time she shed a tear, Effie just looked calmly now and used the final brushes to hypnotise her imagination to somewhere better in the world.

The pull of the lipstick dragged along her lips and the obligatory smack that brought them together marked the end of her makeup routine. Effie then lifted the wig from the dresser and stretched it across her scalp, her soft blonde hair tucked comfortably underneath the elastic of the accessory. When she was younger she always wondered what she would look like brunette, never having brought the idea up to her conservative mother who thought being blonde and white was an honor. Still, it didn't shock her as much as she thought it would, it just added to the list of things that made her more detached from her occupation. The next thing that would come of course would be her "outfit", if it could even be called that. It was one of Kat's she had adopted into her own wardrobe, a dark purple slashed mini dress that hugged what little curves she had and compensated by showing off the rest of her body. Although she had little time to think about all of that, she had already taken too long getting ready and she still needed to find Katniss wherever she was. She gave one last look in the mirror, a deep breath, before draping on her thin coat and leaving the apartment.

The booming of house music shook her more and more as she descended the apartment stairs, the same people were gathered every night at the bottom of the well, all greasy and ogling. Too tired to even shake them off, Effie just sighed as several of them pinched and stroked her behind as she walked through to the club. The noise of her clicking boots was soon drowned out completely as she pulled open the heavy metal back door of Club Coal. Lights and smoke blinded her as usual as she made her way to the bar, the night before she had seen Katniss sitting with the shadier characters in town, having not seen her since she thought it best to at least check with the barman for a clue to where she might be.

Leaning over the counter, tutting as she also leaned into some unknown liquid, Effie tried to get his attention.

"Peeta! Peeta!" she pulled at his black shirt and dug her nails slightly to alert him to where she was in the bustle.

His crooked smile greeted her when he finally located her in the crowd. His blond hair was drenched in sweat and most probably spilled alcohol.

"Hey! I didn't recognize you!" he shouted in her direction. She couldn't help but give a quick smile back; the boy was always sweet to her.

"Have you seen Katniss? I haven't seen her since yesterday and last time I saw she was with the Hawthornes" she tried to tell him, whilst wrestling the moving waves of intoxicated partygoers.

"Yeah" Peeta sighed "She's still with them, if you go out down to Johanna's corner you'll probably find her"

She squeezed his arm again in thanks and then quickly pulled away; the current of people almost lifted her right to the doorstep. Stumbling out into the freezing air she bumped into several other workers, the majority of them were too off their faces to even acknowledge the interaction. When Katniss had taken her under her care she had made Effie swear that she would never get involved with drugs, even threatening to throw her out once or twice when she thought her pupils looked too dilated. But now Kat herself was socializing with the Hawthornes, she had told her the other night that one of them in particular had been nice to her, that he wasn't like the rest. They both knew this justification fell short when considering the effects every Hawthorne man had on the workers.

Gale. That was the name of the one who had been nice to her, Gale, the name that Effie would have to remember to mention for any hope of her getting Katniss back. Repeating his name silently she walked down the block, the click of her boots was like a police siren for the lurking men. She remembered and tried to stick to the building side of the sidewalk, some of the girls on Sunset were viciously protective of their territory. As she approached Johanna's corner she braced herself.

"Bitch, get the fuck out of here!" Johanna yelled at the approaching figure. Multiple clicks increased now as the boots of the two women encroached on each other.

"Relax Jo it's just me, it's Effie" she announced, her hands rose slightly in an attempt to placate her "I'm not working, I'm looking for Kat"

A violent guffaw was the reaction, Johanna's crimson lips twisted into a smirk, her head shaking slightly at the realization.

"Katniss? Oh I know where she is alright…" Johanna's hand gestured over to the bar across the street, the smirk slipped slightly as she gave Effie another nod.

"Thanks" Effie acknowledged, and then made her way over to the building Katniss had sworn her never to go.

The music being played there wasn't the usual beat of electronic drums but instead being performed live by a man whose vocals were akin to a dying cat. The forced strum on his guitar only put her nerves more on edge as she made her way over to the corner of the bar, the so-called "VIP Area" they had always tried to sell it as. She took a deep breath before making her way to their table, the Hawthornes.

They did not notice her immediately, too caught up in their incoherent conversations, only when she went to grab Katniss' arm did they give any reaction.

"Lady, what do you think you're doing? Gale's looking after that one tonight" one of the men called out.

"Well unless he's also going to look after our rent, I need her" she attempted to explain whilst draping Katniss' arm around her own neck and pulling her heavily to her feet.

"You're gonna have to be the one to explain this to him ay missy?" another called just as the door swung shut.

"With pleasure" she muttered. She knew Katniss wouldn't be able to work at all that night, and to stop a repeat of this the next, she needed to get her home and sobered up. One of the reasons Katniss had warned her so fervently was because she herself was so easily affected, why the girl had contradicted herself so badly she didn't know.

When they had made their way halfway back to the apartment she needed a break in carrying her, Katniss was practically deadweight considering the lack of functions she had at that point.

"Where are we?" she grumbled, yanking on Effie's sleeve like a child.

"Halfway up Sunset, almost there honey" she placated, rubbing her arms quickly in an attempt to warm her, if only slightly.

"I wanna go back, I was having _fun_ for once" Katniss sighed.

"Katniss, why on earth would you go there? One of the first things you told me when I came here was to stay clear of the Hawthornes" she queried, her hands still rubbing her shoulders to warm her up.

"I owe money to Cory" she murmured, not needing to explain more.

Effie sat quietly for a moment, Cory's gang was known for being especially malicious, their trademark usually being mutilating the people who didn't pay them back – as a warning. Although it still didn't add up.

"And you thought that being with the Hawthornes would keep you safe?" Effie scoffed. She always tried not to be judgemental but Katniss' solution seemed to be just as bad as her predicament.

"I thought it would at least postpone it," she confessed. To this Effie took both of her hands and knelt on the frozen sidewalk in front of her.

"Kat, I have money, I'll bail you out," Effie proposed.

"I've taken too much from you already," she replied pointedly, her lip jutted out slightly.

To Effie this was a moot point, to her safety and shelter always came before pride and it was a lesson she had had to learn the hard way.

"And I've taken some from you in the past too, we're a team remember? You looked out for me when I got here, let me do the same for you" she almost begged.

She didn't reply but Effie felt she still understood. As Katniss' eyes began to well up, she wiped the tears away before they could fall and pulled her up from the bench. Her feet were still unsteady as anything so she resumed half carrying her once again.

"What's going on?" she asked, again pulling on Effie's coat sleeve.

"I'm gonna get you back to Coal before I start work tonight, you need to rest" she replied.

Under different circumstances Katniss would have protested to the point which she would have even regretted even suggesting the idea, but that night she had nothing left in her, all of her energy being soaked up and drained by whatever concoction of medications the Hawthornes had given her. After a long trek back up the boulevard, Effie finally got her back to the club. Her next task being finding someone to babysit her whilst she worked, she couldn't leave her with just anybody.

As if her prayers had been answered, Peeta quickly poked his head out of the door. Within seconds of seeing Katniss sway on the sidewalk, he pulled her arm over his shoulder and began leading her inside.

"Is she okay?" he asked calling out, quickly looking her over.

"She doesn't look too bad but she's definitely taken something, keep an eye on her" she replied.

"Sure, have a good night Effie" he nodded before going back inside.

And so the night began.

After multitudes of expensive fast cars had sped by every day, she had grown accustomed to seeing them. But never had she seen such a valuable car driven so _badly_, the one that was about to pass her screeched forward. Smoke plumed from the intermittent skidding wheels and the body lurched forward every time there was a gear change. She even heard some of the surrounding partygoers mumble the word "maniac", even the intoxicated noticing the poor driving quality. As it began to slow she knew it would end up in her territory, Kat would have killed her if she hadn't tried approaching, but none of what she had seen had boded well.

"Evening sweetheart" a voice called.

Plastering on the sweetest smile she could muster she made her way to the Lotus.

"Looking for a date?" she asked, swaying her hips slowly as widely as she could.

"None of that tonight, just trying to figure out how to get to Beverly Hills"

"Well I could show you…" Effie mused "For 10 dollars"

"Nice try princess, I'm not gonna pay for directions"

"Good luck finding someone around here who would give you something for free" she sighed, mock walking away. She heard him tut behind her.

"So you know how to get to the Regent?"

"Oh darling, it's my favourite place" she smiled sweetly.

His chin jutted slightly as he dropped the bill into her outstretched palm and motioned for her to get in. As soon as her door slammed shut he began again speeding and screeching with minimal consideration.

"You drive rather fast for someone for doesn't who know where they're going" she muttered.

"Aw but now I've got you," he replied with a smirk "What's your name?"

"Whatever you want it to be" it rolled off her tongue in reply without a thought.

"Don't play with me sweetheart"

The car slowed slightly when he turned to her, her act dropped momentarily seeing his concern. Not seeing any real reason why not to, for once she decided to give the man her actual name, he seemed different.

"It's Effie"

When she answered he repeated her name a couple of times, as if he wanted to commit it to memory. She didn't understand why.

"Good to meet you Effie, I'm Haymitch" he replied.

In his mind she was a hot mess, a crooked wig and a fake sensuous accent. Still he felt like it would be premature to let her go, this wasn't how he planned the evening at all but surely it could do no harm. His glances at her became more frequent, more than would be needed to validate directions, until they finally pulled into the hotel parking lot.

"So this is your place hm?" she asked, staring up through the windshield at the lit up grandeur that was the Regent. She had never been so close to a place so luxurious, she'd never needed to.

He didn't reply, instead he just gave a half nod as his thoughts were somewhere else. Effie considered whether to get out, however nice a man he seemed to be it was never advisable to linger in a car like that.

He started to wring his hands, debating internally. His decision was made as he looked up at her again. Her cheap jewels sparkled on her collar, the wig had not righted itself and she was wearing too much makeup for a Tuesday night. Still she had that look, there was more to her than her occupation.

"Did you uh… want to come up and get drink?" he asked.

"Well _Haymitch_" she sighed, drawing out his name "Honestly I've got so many clients lined up for me, I don't think I'd have the time"

Saying this she got out of the car, her heels clicked as she walked over to the nearest bench. Unsure what else to do, Haymitch handed his keys to the porter and followed her. She didn't know why she had rejected him. They were both quiet as he sat down next to her. He was bemused as she slowly looked him up and down, unaware that his attire was anything out of sorts. She made a mental list as she did, gold cufflinks, monogrammed shirt, pressed suit, something wasn't right.

"You could have anyone, you know?" she mumbled, the false lightheartedness dropping from her voice "I don't see why you'd want to pay"

Why was she arguing? She herself didn't know.

"I could," he smirked "but tonight I want you, a professional"

The ice broke as she laughed - a real laugh. A professional? Never once had anyone described her in such a way, not even in joking. It was true what she had said, technically he could have anyone. But he was tired of ulterior motives, he needed someone who knew what they were doing, and would leave in the morning without demanding a share of the company or something along those lines.

"I think that's the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me" she joked, tugging on his arm.

"Then sweetheart, what a sad life you've lived"

Holding out his hand, he pulled her up from the bench.

_What a sad life you've lived._

This she mused as they entered the building. He hadn't meant it seriously but it was truthful. Although as they walked through the revolving door into reception, his statement was soon forgotten, quickly replaced by a sinking feeling and awkward silence. The other patrons froze as they took in her appearance. Her heels for once attracted too much attention, as if the clicked signaled her lack of class, or worse her job. People muttered as she clung onto the man's arm. The stares that were directed at her pierced. Some were polite and averted their eyes but some were less polite.

Their lips curled in disgust.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you guys for all the kind words! I appreciate reviews so much, sorry it took me so long to update. Hope you enjoy!**

Chapter Two

The whole ordeal lasted no more than a minute, soon after recognizing the man she was with, all of them at least attempted to go back to acting as how they were before. One of the clerks standing nearby hurried over to him.

"Good evening Mr Abernathy, how may I help you and your… guest this evening?" the clerk asked. Haymitch paid little attention to his question and instead turned to her.

"What do you drink princess?" he asked.

"Wine, please," she mumbled, still extremely aware of the other patron's stares.

The answer seemed to satisfy him. "Send a bottle up to the room, that'll be all for now," he nodded to the boy.

"Oh Mr Abernathy, you still need to collect your key card," he replied, beckoning Haymitch to come with him.

"I'll be a minute, go on to the elevators down there," he explained, gesturing to the doors at the back of the lobby.

As she walked alone to the end of the foyer she heard the comments resume. The majority of them were hushed and at least attempted some discretion. All of the comments in fact, except the woman directly to the right of her. As Effie had walked up to the doors to wait, she heard the woman mutter the word "disgusting". She would have let it go if she hadn't had seen the woman's husband, someone who you could class as a "regular", agreeing and sneering along with his wife. She wouldn't take it, she didn't come here to be abused, and certainly not by one of the known customers.

"I'm sorry? What was that? You were calling me disgusting it that quite right?" she asked,

"Well not you specifically my dear, just the people that happen to share your… profession," the woman sniped, her nose getting higher and higher as she uttered each word. As the woman finished, all pretenses of trying to blend in and not cause attention left Effie.

"Well I have you know _darling_ that my "profession" as you call it, entirely depends on people like your lovely husband," Effie smirked, her eyes narrowing "I would be completely out of work if there weren't any tired, horny, wife-hating business men to fill my time and myself,"

The woman's mouth dropped.

"And before you go ahead and tell me that your husband would never do such a thing, I would advise you to check your bank account, he and my room-mate had an excellent time last week I heard," she teased "Not that I'd ever be the one to ruin someone's day, but you know what they say, when in Rome…"

All the time the woman stood gaping, the only indications of her growing anger were her nostrils flaring and the once gentle grip on her husband's hand turned into a seething vice. Before the woman could even begin to form a rebuttal, Haymitch returned with a key card in his hand and a bemused look once noticing the tension between her and the couple. Seeing him, the woman gaped even wider, even the look on her husband's face had turned from turmoil to total fixation.

"Making friends quickly I see," he nodded to her. Seeing his return, the bellboy rushed over to them and began leading all of them to individual elevators. The couple followed slowly behind.

"Yes dear, I would consider these some of my closest friends considering that we're on a first name basis," Effie struggled to keep a straight face and followed him into the elevator. "Isn't that right Claudius?" she teased.

If it could even be possible at that point, the woman gaped even more. The elevator doors slid quickly shut, and as they sped upwards, the noise of the couple beginning to argue got fainter and fainter. At which point she burst into laughter, the woman's reaction lingering in her mind. Haymitch didn't say a word and just raised a brow whilst she tried to contain herself.

As the elevator slowed to the final floor and a ding was heard, and she exited. Haymitch followed her just after handing a bill to the attendant. It was a silly occupation but he had been brought up to respect and tip the staff either way, no matter how unnecessary he felt their jobs were.

After a few seconds of him wiggling the key card back and forth into the slot, the doors finally opened to the Penthouse Suite. As he brought her in, he gestured to the couch, after which he went to the bar and opened the bottle of wine. Unsure what she should do she walked over to the side, her heels sinking slightly as she did into the cream carpet. Slowly pulling back the curtain she heard him cough, closer behind her than she thought.

"Don't do that," he sighed, as she turned to him, handing her the glass he'd just poured.

"Why get the Penthouse and never look out the window?" she asked.

"I don't make my own arrangements sweetheart,"

"Clearly," she muttered, she enjoyed looking out at the lights from her apartment, who knows how beautiful it was from up there.

"So how does this work?" he asked, making way for her as they both sat on the couch.

"It's relatively simple," she laughed "You could start by paying me"

"Take what you want," he nodded towards his wallet on the coffee table.

The ice clinked as he poured his whiskey into the crystal glass, the noise seemed to amplify and for a moment causing an awkward silence between them.

"I don't mean to be a pain but you know time is running? If we stay and drink much longer I don't know if I'll have enough time to be worth your while,"

"To be quite honest, and it may or may not surprise you, I've never actually done this before," he confessed.

"That's what they all say," she said, lifting her glass pointedly "All guys like you have been with girls like me, that's how the business works,"

He let his finger trace lightly down her jaw then pinched her chin slightly and turned her to face him.

"What am I going to have to do to make you stop fidgeting? You're even making me on edge,"

"I'd be less worried if I was staying the night, but that all depends on whether you could afford me," the reply came out without her thinking, which was rare.

Once again he nodded to his wallet. "Take what you need, and if there's not enough there's always more," he said, still cupping her face in his hand. Effie nodded then leaned back on the couch.

"Oh and sweetheart? Take off your damn boots," he said, looking at them in disdain. Complying, she unzipped the long zippers, cash and condoms falling out onto the floor as she did.

"Why?"

"Protection is a must,"

"Yes but why are you keeping them in your shoes?"

"Hookers don't have pockets,"

"Don't call yourself that,"

"Haymitch what do you think I'm here for?"

"I don't like that word; you're my… assistant for the evening,"

"Of course and how may I assist you this evening Mr Abernathy?"

"Have a drink, dear," he nodded towards his glass, clinking it against hers.

And she did, long sips and teasing comments seemed to fill the majority of the evening. As the background noise of the traffic outside began to lull around 3am, things seemed to be a lot quieter than before and certainly a lot hazier. She had only had about three glasses but it seemed to be affecting her more than usual. Her head had somehow made itself onto his lap; her feet were curled at the bottom of the sofa under the makeshift blanket that was his suit jacket. It was almost cozy.

"Tell me something about you," he murmured, his thumb stroking her arm gently.

"What would you like to know?" she replied.

"How do you do this?"

"This?"

"Your job"

"Honestly? I distance myself, not all men like to have deep discussions with me before they bend me over a table" she teased.

"It's that easy?"

"I also don't kiss on the lips," she smiled, looking up at him.

"Neither do I," he replied. In response she pulled herself up onto him, her legs straddling his.

Still smiling she put her hand forward, stroking the rough stubble before working her way into his hair. Slowly she moved closer to him, their lips inches away from each other.

"It's nice to know we're on the same page," she whispered. Her hot breath almost made him shiver.

Still straddling him, she lowered herself further onto him, pressing her lips against his cheek. Small kisses at first, becoming rougher as she moved closer down to his throat, leaving her marks as she did. The material of her dress against her was sheer, his pants and that were making poor work of hiding their growing desire for each other. She could feel him against her as her thighs lowered once again, desperate for contact. But not too quickly, she knew how to tease.

His wandering hands finally found the hidden zip at the back of her dress, pulling it down slowly she shuddered before giving a knowing smile. Hungrily he pulled down the shoulder of her dress, nipping and kissing from her neck down to her bra, before removing that too. Her desire grew stronger; his fingers against her skin seemed electric. Quickly she pulled down the zipper of his pants, his underwear down too.

Picking up one of the gold circles that had fallen onto the carpet, she delicately danced her fingers around him before covering him all completely. As she did she heard him curse quietly under his breath, before opening his eyes and pushing her up off of her. Standing up he removed the last of their clothing, quickly nothing covering either of them.

He stilled for a moment, taking her in. Silently she took his hand and led him to the bed. A hand went to her shoulder, soon followed by his lips pressed gently against her back. Stubble grazed as he made his way towards her neck, peppered kisses and gentle caresses caused her knees to buckle slightly. It was then she believed him, he had truly never done this before, he was too caring. She wasn't going to fuck him, what they were doing couldn't be called that. Falling back onto the cotton sheets she pulled him down with her. Quickly she wriggled from under him and was straddling once more. She couldn't help but laugh at his brief confusion; it was a move she used so frequently, the speed of it brought blood to his cheeks. Although he quickly regained control; roughly pressing his thumbs into her thighs, dragging them up towards her center.

The streetlights shone gently through the bedroom windows, giving her naked body a warm hazy glow. With a smile on her face and her hair tickling gently against her breasts, he couldn't wait any longer and entered her slowly. She gave a small ethereal gasp as he did, his hardness filling her gently at first. It was sweet; it was as if he didn't want to hurt her, as if it was her first time. Bending lower down onto him, she started to grind harder, giving his throat more and more kisses as she began to build up a rhythm. His moans soon matched hers as they went deeper and quicker. Haymitch's hold on her thighs was strong enough to catch her in a moment of weakness as she started to climax. Rolling her over suddenly onto her back, he was in control once again. Pinning her arms down, he mumbled "I don't wanna be selfish; you should get yours too".

Before she could say anything in reply his fingers slowly traced against her wetness as he still pumped harder and harder into her, heightening everything she was feeling before and more. Her gentle gasps became heavy moans as he continued to torture her beautifully, one hand grazing gently at her, the other roughly kneading her breast as she was about to go over the edge.

"Haymitch…" she breathed, unable to say much more.

He knew what she meant, taking his hands; he grabbed her waist roughly as they both began to climax higher. Moaning, sweating, stroking, the pleasure was like a furnace that would only ever burn hotter. Their bodies were on fire with each other's touches and still they grinded harder. Reaching her peak, Effie's moans ceased and were replaced with a silent euphoria, her face in gorgeous anguish as she came. Shudders rippled through her body as she did, soon after, he did too. The pleasure at the highest level, one neither of them had ever truly experienced. A guttural moan and a hand to her cheek finished them both. The come down began as they slowly collapsed onto one another.

Skin intertwined and hair in their faces, neither of them wanted to move. Speechless they lay, silently positioning themselves against each other with heads on pillows.

Time passed. He didn't know what to say.

Luckily he didn't have to.

Within a few minutes her breathing became deeper and slower, without even looking he knew she had fallen asleep. Not feeling sleepy himself, he pulled gently away from her warm body and got out of the bed. Even with her smudged mascara and her harsh lipstick, in sleep she looked young. Tired admittedly but still young, she needed a good night's sleep. As quietly as he could without disturbing her, he pulled the heavy covers over her fully and made his way back to the lounge.

Sitting on the sofa where it had began; he resumed drinking the glass of whiskey.

The amber liquid shone, reminding him of the familiar streetlights.

At that point, he realized what exactly he had let himself in for. Looking at his wallet on the coffee table, he knew what he needed to ask her.

One night could never be enough.


End file.
